The Open Data portal of Saudi Arabia is an important initiative for the country, as it aims to implement a public data hub and strategy to enable transparency, promote e-participation and inspire innovation.

The primary role of the portal is to publish datasets from ministries and government agencies in an open format, and make this data available to the public. The platform enables the public to have central point of access to find, download and use datasets generated by the ministries and governmental entities in the country.

Government Open Data helps bridge the gap between governments and citizens. The public benefits from the data provided in different ways, such as acquiring a better understanding of how to government agencies work, opening up the opportunities for people to evaluate the performance of various administrative institutions, giving citizens the chance to make informed decisions about government policies. It also allows using the data for research, reports, providing feedback, and developing web and smartphone applications and solutions based on government open data.

With this Open Data portal the Saudi government pursues to expand its e-Government services portfolio by extending the growing efforts to individuals and private sectors, enhancing transparency and allowing people to show their creativity.